


How to Build a Family out of Destruction

by Echo (Ech0_0f_The_Past)



Category: Undertale (Video Game), Undertale AUs - Fandom
Genre: Babybones (Undertale), Becoming a Child Again, Error Still Remembers Things, Gen, I'm Sneaking Some Minor Angst in Here, Slice of Life, Where Are the Responsible Adults When You Need Them???, but no one knows yet, dadmare, unconventional family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:41:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27815500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ech0_0f_The_Past/pseuds/Echo
Summary: A little gift for a friend that I decided to undertake on the spur of the moment, purely so I can practice writing fluff and slice of life scenes. Also because the idea of a child Error getting adopted by a bunch of different people at once is too fun to pass up!
Relationships: There Might be Some Relationships Later, but not yet - Relationship
Comments: 179
Kudos: 35





	How to Build a Family out of Destruction

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AngstySkeletons](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngstySkeletons/gifts).



> I'm crediting AngstySkeletons for this idea, (who is a really fun person and an excellent writer, by the way, you should go check out their stuff if you want!) which I'm going to do my best to execute properly and leave as little angst in as possible.
> 
> When I'm around, though, slight hints of angst, at the very least, are unavoidable.

A small, black-boned skeleton lay curled up under the sentry station right outside of Snowdin, his little body well protected from the cold but shivers still shaking him badly enough for his bones to rattle now and again. He was asleep and trapped in a nightmare of past events, things he couldn't quite make sense of in his currently dazed state. All he knew was that he was alone, and had seemingly always been alone, well, until he'd met Nightmare and the gang, but now he didn't know where they were...plus, why should he even try to contact them in his current state? He was weak, vulnerable, surely they'd have no more use for him and toss him out of the castle--

A faint voice from afar that steadily drew closer wasn't even enough to wake the little figure, so deeply asleep was he. His rattling bones as his tiny body shook from his own fears and the cold surroundings caught the attention of the newcomer on the scene, though, who quickly peeked under the station once he was close enough to do so.

Two white eyelights stared down at the little intruder on royal property, and the sentry made a split-second decision. This was a child, alone and clearly not dressed warmly enough for this weather. He didn't even have shoes on! And more than that, he was stick-thin, even for a skeleton, which suggested that he likely wasn't well cared for. And if the many, many scars that were faintly visible along his black bones were any indication, he'd likely suffered outside of wherever his home was, too.

"C'mon, kiddo...let's take a shortcut back to my place," Sans (Classic) murmured, slipping off his own jacket and using it to bundle the little stranger up and make sure he was secure. You never knew with runaways or otherwise scarred children...he could lash out upon waking, and Classic really didn't want to risk getting his 1 HP down to 0 by a monster child, thanks. As he stepped from one part of the Underground and directly into another, Classic sharply glanced up as his brother Papyrus approached. Oh no, the _last_ thing he wanted was for this kid to wake up thanks to his brother's booming voice. 

Shaking his head at his brother and doing his best to signal for him to hush and wait a moment, Classic carried their new, temporary houseguest to the couch and got him settled in, basically buried in the jacket and surrounded by pillows for now, hopefully giving him a sense of security. With that, the shorter of the two brothers grabbed Papyrus's arm lightly and all-but-dragged him into the kitchen of their little house.

" **Sans! What's going on?? Who was that child that you left on our broken-down couch? You really need to take better care of guests, brother! Couldn't you at least have--?** " 

"Paps, listen...I found the kid under my sentry station when I went to start my shift. He was freezing and clearly terrified, even though asleep. Clearly he's been through a lot, and I don't want him getting spooked by us. I doubt waking up in someone else's bedroom would do the poor kid any favors, so the couch was the next best option. I'm thinking I should stop over at Grillby's real quick, get him something warm to eat so he can start gaining a little weight, too--stars, Papyrus, the kid barely weighs anything! I know we're skeletons so we don't have much mass to begin with, but this kid's barely a few pounds, it feels like!" Classic had never sounded this distressed before, and Papyrus gently set his hands on his brother's shoulders, looking him in the eye.

" **I see. Calm down, Sans, you're going to work yourself into a frenzy at this rate! Why don't you head off to Grillby's and get some food for him, maybe let your fiery friend there know what's going on, since I'm sure we'll be busier than usual with our new houseguest and he might worry after you if you don't stop in as often as you used to. I'll keep an eyesocket on things here and call you if our guest wakes up or anything else happens. Take a little time to yourself, okay?** " Papyrus kept his voice down as much as possible, internally sighing in relief when Classic nodded, pulling his hands away and allowing his brother to teleport to the little bar that he loved so much. Talking things out with Grillby always seemed to help him feel better, after all, even if Papyrus himself couldn't see the appeal.

Stopping by the little cabinet under the TV to retrieve a puzzle-trap building manual, Papyrus took a seat near the end of the couch, curling his lanky form into itself as much as possible so he wouldn't come off as threatening if the strange child woke up and saw him there. 

Nothing happened for a good long while, Papyrus only got up a couple of times, once to switch out the manual on puzzles for one on dating (he was practicing for that day, sometime in the near-distant future, when someone would actually go out with him!), and then once more in order to feed the pet rock his daily ration of sprinkles. He had his back turned to the couch for only a few seconds, but when he turned back around, there was the little child skeleton, awake, aware, and cowering back from him as though expecting to be pulled into a fight at any moment.

" **Oh, hello guest! I see you've awoken! There's no need to panic, I can assure you that I, the Great Papyrus, have absolutely no intention to hurt you! Quite the opposite, in fact! My brother Sans, lazybones that he is, actually found you and brought you to our home so we can try and take care of you, since someone has clearly not been doing a good job of that!** " Papyrus tried his best to keep his voice down, and watched as the little skeleton's features shifted between panic, confusion, and finally settled into a neutral, but still distrustful, expression. Moving the conversation along, the taller of the two pulled out his phone and shot Classic a quick text to let him know that he should hurry back with the food, then asked: " **Do you have a name, little one?** "

The child nodded, clearing his throat a couple of times and then trying to speak, though nothing but harsh, grating, and oddly high-pitched sounds came from him at first. After a couple of tries, though, he managed to utter: " ~~Error. My n-name's Error.~~ "

" **That's an...interesting name! It's very nice to meet you, Error!** " The sound of the door to the house opening seemed to relieve Papyrus immensely, since he wasn't sure exactly where to take the conversation from here without getting into personal, dark things that he didn't want to touch on yet. " **Ah, and there's my brother now, food in hand and all!** " He went over to close the door as Classic approached the couch, keeping his steps slow and every motion easy to follow so he didn't spook Error too much by approaching too fast.

"Hey, nice to see you're awake, kid. I brought ya a little of everything on the menu, so hopefully we can--"

" **Sans. My pun senses are tingling. Do. Not.** "

Holding back a chuckle, barely, Classic just shrugged one shoulder and winked at Error, who just blinked at him in confusion, mis-matched and multicolored eyelights darting between the two older skeletons almost frantically. Clearing his throat once more, Error managed to ask, " ~~Are either of you going to attack me, or is the food just poisoned? Oh, maybe this is still part of my nightmare that I'm having and Ink will come bursting in here to finish what he started. Either way, I don't like playing games, so please stop messing around and either kill me or restrain me already.~~ "

Papyrus and Classic shared a look that just screamed 'this child's backstory is going to contain major angst, isn't it,' then turned back to Error as Classic held out the bag. "Listen, kid, we're not going to hurt or kill you, alright? Maybe if you'd ended up in a darker AU that would be the case, but I don't murder innocents--"

Error interrupted Classic's words by doubling over in a fit of sudden, desperate, hysterical laughter. " ~~I-Innocents?! Listen, buddy, I've committed more atrocities than anyone else in existence, I've ended entire AUs single-handedly, you can't seriously call me innocent! You're a Judge, for stars sakes, you should be able to see how impossibly high my LV is!~~ " Error gasped out through his giggles and sudden sobs, blue tears running down his cheeks and staining them with those familiar blue streaks on his dark cheekbones.

"Kid, your LV is at 1. I don't know what sort of nightmare you were having, but clearly you're not a world destroyer. Honestly, I've not seen a soul as pure as yours before, either. You look like you were recently created."

That got him to freeze up, another sob forcing itself from him but otherwise silent, too. There was no way, right? Classic had to be pulling a joke on him--a cruel one, certainly, but that had to be it, right? Ink hadn't actually--

" ~~M-My stats...they're supposed to be god-level, like Reaper's or Ink's...is everything back to square one except my memories? Did Ink actually...reset me? That must be why you don't remember me, why you're even helping me. He's ruined everything and is probably coming to hunt me down a-as we speak and--and when he finds me--~~ "

" **If Ink comes after you, Error, we'll ensure he doesn't hurt you. As my brother said, you're an innocent now, and surely Ink wouldn't dare stoop so low as to dust an innocent monster!** " Papyrus gently reached out and straightened Classic's jacket back over Error's shoulders for him, as it had slipped partway off while the little one was panicking. Error flinched, but wasn't directly touched, so at least he didn't crash.

"So just calm down kiddo, okay? Do you think you can at least manage a few fries or something?" Classic asked, lightly shaking the bag of food he'd picked up as a reminder. The stuff, like all fast food, got nasty when left out for too long, so the sooner the kid ate, the better.

Error just shook his head no, before his eyes zeroed in on the chocolate shake Classic was holding in his other hand. Barely having to think about it, Error swiped up a hand along the blue markings on his cheeks, gathered some string/tears onto his fingertips, and then shot them at the cup, wrapping it up securely and pulling it into his grip, quickly beginning to swallow the delicious concoction down.

Papyrus's eyes boggled out of his skull at the display of never-before-seen magic, while Classic just chuckled softly and opened the bag, offering it up to Papyrus. "Looks like he's more into sweets for now. Do you want any fries, Papyrus? I know they're your favorite. I'll take the burger and maybe try and split it with the kiddo." Nodding, Papyrus took the bag from Classic and headed into the kitchen with it in order to divvy everything up, and also to allow Error some time to decompress. Classic's presence was usually more soothing than his own.

Error was completely entranced by the shake, so much so that he half-forgot Classic was there. Humming softly in relief as the magical food began healing some of his wounds, Error softly sighed to himself. " ~~Wish I didn't have to go back to the anti-void after this...~~ " he muttered to himself, only to jump when Classic asked him what that was.

" ~~Just a big, white, empty place, really. It's my...home, I guess? Not the best, but it's what I've got to work with.~~ " Error just shrugged after speaking, but Classic looked concerned and a bit stern all of a sudden.

"Oh, no, I don't think you should be going back there, Error. Places like that can mess with your head...I know you say it's your home, but that's just not the case. A home is a place where you can find shelter, rest, and safety, sure, but it's also a place where you have treasured memories, people you can trust, and are surrounded by things you love. Sure, the 'anti-void' provides shelter and a place to rest, but nothing else that you need to actually be happy..." Classic sighed softly, lowering his already-soft voice even further. "But I can tell you're stubborn, so how about this? Stay here for, let's say, a week. Enough time to get you back on your feet and for Ink to likely forget that he's even hunting you down--if that is indeed what he's doing. After that, you can either keep staying here, or leave freely and go wherever you want again. Deal?"

Error thought for a moment, a small smile appearing on his face. " ~~Sure, I guess. Undernovella's all reruns this week anyways, so I won't be missing much. Plus, having you acting like a caring dad to me is kinda funny, not gonna lie.~~ "

Classic sputtered at that, and was about to retort, when Papyrus called from the kitchen doorway: " **Oh! I'm an uncle now, then?** "

Error laughed, then went back to drinking his shake with a thoughtful smile. Maybe this hadn't been the worst thing to ever happen to him, after all...


End file.
